


Message In A Bottle

by angelus2hot



Category: Stargate SG-1
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Getting Together, Happy Ending, Romance, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-07-19
Updated: 2013-07-19
Packaged: 2017-12-20 17:57:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,161
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/890173
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/angelus2hot/pseuds/angelus2hot
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It took her leaving for him to realize how much he loved her.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Message In A Bottle

**Author's Note:**

  * For [skieswideopen](https://archiveofourown.org/users/skieswideopen/gifts).



> **Title:** Message In A Bottle  
>  **Fandom:** Stargate SG-1  
>  **Characters/Pairing:** Cameron Mitchell/Sam Carter  
>  **Rating:** PG-13  
>  **Word Count:** 3,166  
>  **Summary:** It took her leaving for him to realize how much he loved her.  
>  **A/N:** written for skieswideopen at rarepairfest  
>  **A/N:** Thanks to colls for the amazing beta work!

Cameron Mitchell whistled as he walked down the corridor. Five glorious days spent in Kansas with his parents had allowed him to relax in ways he hadn't in a very long time. As much as he loved his job after the constant threat of imminent death from the Ori he had needed the time away. But now he was back and ready to once more take up the mantle of hero at large, saving the world and rescuing fair maidens. He couldn't help the smile that began to spread across his face at his fancifulness. There really was only one maiden he was interested in and she was more than likely to be the one to do the saving and rescuing.

He turned the corner and was almost run over by General Landry. Cameron couldn't remember ever seeing him in such a hurry. He reached out and grabbed the General's arm to keep them from colliding. "You okay, General?"

"Mitchell, I'm glad you're back. You're just the man I wanted to see."

Cameron did a quick mental check to determine if he could have done something to warrant the General's interest. And he came up blank. He couldn't think of anything he had done wrong especially since he had been gone for a week. "Okay. What did I do, sir?"

The General laughed as he shook his head. "You got it all wrong, Mitchell. I was beginning to worry you wouldn't make it back in time."

A look of confusion crossed Cam's face. "Back in time for what, sir?"

"To see Colonel Carter off. She’s leaving the SGC,"

Surely he couldn't have heard that right. "Excuse me, General. Did you say Carter was leaving?"

"Yes, I did. She's been reassigned to Atlantis and she's leaving..." He glanced at his watch. "As a matter of fact, she's leaving right this minute. If you would like to say goodbye and if you hurry you might just catch her before she leaves."

"Thank you, sir." Without another word Cam took off running down the corridor his relaxed and happy mood had left him completely. Samantha Carter was leaving the SGC and more importantly she was leaving him.

 

 

Less than five minutes later Cam ran into the Gate room. “Sam, wait!” He yelled as he jogged further into the room and stopped mere inches behind her.

Samantha Carter stopped mid-stride half way up the ramp. A smile lit her face as she turned towards him. “Cam? When did you get back?”

“Just a few minutes ago.” He answered her offhandedly before jumping in with his questions. “Were you planning on letting me know that you had been reassigned or were you just going to let me guess when you didn’t show up for the next meeting?” Cam tried not to let the disappointment carry over into the tone of his voice but it was hard. “Were you even going to say goodbye?” He was hurt, more than he wanted to admit even to himself.

Sam’s smile faltered. “Everything happened so fast, there really wasn’t time. But I planned on getting in touch with you as soon as I was settled in Atlantis.”

Cam exhaled the breath he hadn’t even realized he was holding as a wave of relief washed over him. At least she had planned on keeping in touch after she left and not just disappearing from his life for good. _That was something. Right?_ Maybe they could even...

“Colonel Carter, the SGA is waiting.”

With a rueful look Carter quickly began to speak. “Look, Cam. I really have to go before General Landry has a fit.” She closed the distance between her and Cam and wrapped her arms around his neck.

As his arms closed around her waist pulling her closer against his body; he drank in the smell of her, the feel of her in his arms. He wanted to bottle the feeling, he didn’t know when or if he would ever get to hold her this way again. If he was honest, what he really wanted was to hold onto her forever but like all good things...

Sam slowly stepped out of the circle of his arms. “Bye, Cam. I’ll be in touch.” Sam promised softly before she turned to leave. She missed the look of pain that crossed his face as she walked through the wormhole.

He wanted to stop her, to tell her why she should stay, why she couldn’t leave him but he didn’t say any of those things instead he whispered to an empty room, “Goodbye, Sam.”

 

 

Samantha Carter sat at her desk lost in thought. It had been days since she had last seen him and she still couldn’t get Cameron Mitchell out of her head. There had been something odd about the way Cam had acted when she’d left. She had always thought he had seen her more as a sister but something... 

Loud warning sounds echoed through the room interrupting her thoughts.

“Unscheduled offworld activation!”

She quickly jumped up and rushed into the Gate room. “What is it?”

“It’s the SGC, ma’am.”

Sam nodded her head. “Lower the shield.”

The minute the shield was lowered a bottle rolled onto the floor, coming to a stop inches from where she stood. Just as soon as the gate closed Sam bent down to retrieve the bottle.

“Who would be sending messages in a bottle?” Rodney asked as he came to stand beside her. The look of confusion on his face was plain to see. In his opinion there were a lot of better ways to communicate. “Any idea who it’s from?” He stared at the bottle in her hand.

She shook her head. _Not one that she wanted to share._ “No. I don’t.” She rolled the bottle over in her hand until she saw her name written on the paper inside. 

Without another word Sam turned and began to walk away. She hugged the bottle to her chest as she walked to her quarters. It didn’t take long until she was inside of her room, the door safely locked behind her. She didn’t understand why but her fingers trembled as she opened the bottle, turned it upside down and pulled out the message from inside. 

For some reason she couldn’t explain she brought the letter to her nose and breathed deep. A soft sigh escaped her. The scent of him wafted off the page almost as if he were in the room with her. 

Slowly, still savoring his scent, she uncurled the paper and began to read.

_Sam,_  
 _I tried to wait until I was sure you were settled in but it didn’t work. Apparently I’m no good at waiting._

She could have told him that. Sam grinned to herself as she continued to read.

_Yeah, I know you could have told me that, right? Anyway, I know you’re probably wondering why I’m contacting you this way especially since there are no doubt a lot better ways of communicating. I wanted to surprise you and this was the only way I could be sure that no one but you and me would know what we’re writing._

_The thing is there are some things I should have told you a long time ago. Things that I... damn why is this so hard?_

With a quizzical look on her face, she shrugged.

_I know what you’re thinking. Out with it, right? So, okay, here goes. I don’t see you as just part of the team. I haven’t for a very long time. I don’t see you as just a friend and I sure as hell don’t see you as my sister either._

Sam’s eyes widened as she bit her lip. Did he mean...?

_Shocked you, huh?_

A small smile curved her lips. She could picture the pleased look on his face.

_Cam._

Wait. That was it? Sam quickly flipped the page over and back again. Surely, there was more. There had to be. But she was wrong. How could he end it like that? A wave of frustration swept through her. Why didn’t he tell her exactly how he saw her? 

Sam quickly pulled out a pen and piece of paper, sat down at the desk in her room and began to write him back. There was no way she was letting him get away with not telling her the rest of it.

Within a few minutes Sam had finished her letter, slipped it inside of the bottle and closed it tight. Since she had to send the next data burst about the Wraith to the SGC she might as well kill two birds with one stone. By the time most of the city was asleep Sam had sent her reply back to Cam.

 

 

“Unscheduled offworld activation!”

Cam smiled to himself as the Stargate lit up. He had been waiting for more than four hours for it to happen. “You can open the iris. It’s the SGA.” 

The man shook his head. “I can’t do that, Sir. Not until I have confirmation that it is....” He paused for a moment before he turned to stare at Colonel Mitchell. “It’s Atlantis. How did you know?”

With a full-fledged grin plastered to his face, Cam shrugged his shoulders. “Just a hunch.” He said as he walked out of the Stargate operations room and into the gateroom.

Within seconds of the iris opening a bottle rolled through the event horizon and down the ramp.

“Do you think that’s wise, Sir?” Walter’s tone was wary as Cam leaned down and picked up the bottle. The identification code had said Atlantis but could one ever really be sure?

Cam nodded his head. “Yeah, I think so. ” Without another word Cam left the room holding the bottle in his hands.

Apparently when dealing with his feelings for Sam, patience wasn’t one of his virtues. He had barely made it out of the gateroom before he opened the bottle and pulled out the message inside. Within seconds he was laughing out loud.

 

_Cam,_  
 _Astrophysics I get but you leave me continually baffled. What exactly are you trying to tell me?_

_Sam_

 

Cam turned and headed back inside the operations room. Within moments he had found a pen and paper and quickly wrote her an answer.

“I need to send this to Colonel Carter immediately.” 

Walter shook his head. “I’m not sure that I...”

“Trust me, Walter. This is information Colonel Carter desperately needs.”

Walter, with a doubtful look on his face, dialed Atlantis so Cam could send his message.

 

 

With her hands at the small of her back Sam stretched before she turned to leave. It would probably be tomorrow or even later before Cam answered her.

“Unscheduled offworld activation! It’s the SGC, ma’am”

She quickly spun around. “Lower the shield.”

A bottle rolled through and once more Sam bent down and picked it up. She debated whether or not to go to her quarters or her office. As the city was almost completely deserted this time of night, she decided her office would be closer.

Within moments she was seated at her desk, the opened bottle was emptied and sitting in front of her, the letter in her hand.

_Sam,  
I’m not trying to baffle you. Not really. It’s just that I never thought it would be this hard. _

Samantha gripped the paper in her hand tighter. She could feel that they were on the cusp of something... something good if only he would just come out and say it. Or at least she hoped it was what she thought it might be. Otherwise she was setting herself up for undue pain.

 

_Okay here goes. Do you remember when we were on P9C-882, you were hurt and thinking you weren't going to make it? I was determined to get you out of there because I said we had lost Jackson and I couldn't lose you, too._

Even though he couldn’t see her she nodded her head; it wasn’t something she was likely to forget.

_Well, I lied. The reason I couldn’t lose you had nothing at all to do with losing Jackson and everything to do with you and how I feel about you._

A smile stole across her face. Finally, he was going to tell her... She glanced back down at the paper in her hands.

_Cam_

 

Her loud sigh echoed around the room as she tossed the paper on her desk. This was getting ridiculous. She reached for another sheet of paper and began to write down a reply.

 

 

He stared at the clock on the wall as he waited for her reply. He didn’t care how long it would be before the next incoming wormhole from Atlantis he wasn’t leaving until he heard from Sam. But still the minutes ticked by so slowly it was almost driving him crazy. At first he had thought he was being clever to use the messages in a bottle way of communicating with Sam, not to mention he had thought it would be romantic, but now it was just taking too damn long. He completely looked over the part where he could have just told Sam everything in one message and been done with it. He hadn’t quite realized there was something a little daunting about spilling his guts to her in a letter. There had to be a better way to do this.

Cam leaned the chair back, balancing it on two legs as he racked his brain for ideas. It was too bad Sam wasn’t there. He’d bet she could come up with something in a matter of seconds. But of course she wasn’t there. 

If only he could talk to her face to face. He would do anything if... He quickly smacked his hand against his forehead. That was it! The legs of the chair hit the floor with a loud sound as Cam raced out of the room.

 

 

 

“Colonel Mitchell! What do you think you’re doing?”

Cam turned and looked up to see General Landry glaring down at him from the operations room window. “I’m going to Atlantis, sir.” He didn’t stop walking up the ramp towards the gate as he spoke.

The General’s mouth hung open in shock. “Excuse me? You’re going where without permission?”

"I'm sorry, sir. There wasn't time to go through proper channels. Atlantis needs my help."

The General glanced at Walter. "I'll contact Colonel Carter and..." 

Before he could finish Cam interrupted. "There's no time, General. Every second counts!" Without another word, Cameron Mitchell took a step closer to the wormhole, stepped through the event horizon and disappeared.

 

 

Thanks to Rodney, and his need to prove he was smarter than everyone else, she had to open a wormhole to the SGC to send a data stream to Daniel Jackson. She hadn’t asked any questions. The truth was she was just relieved at not having to make up an excuse.

“Dial the SGC.” The bottle was clutched tightly in her hands as she walked down the steps toward the gate. 

The man behind the desk began to push the buttons. But before he could finish dialing the sequence the gate lit up. “Incoming wormhole! It’s the SGC, ma’am.”

A look of confusion swept across her face. He couldn’t be sending her another message so soon; she hadn’t even replied to the last one yet. But one never knew with Cam. Maybe he had thought of another way to tease, it felt more like torture, her with the barest of glimpses into his feelings for her. Whatever those were.

Sam stood in the middle of the room and waited for a bottle to roll across the floor towards her but nothing happened. Finally, the Stargate disengaged and she looked up, straight into the smiling face of Cameron Mitchell.

“Cam? What are you...?”

Cam quickly interrupted. “Aren’t you the least bit happy to see me?”

“I... uh...” 

His attention was caught by the bottle in her hand, saving her from answering. “Were you sending it back?”

Slowly Sam nodded her head as he reached for it. Without a word she placed it in his outstretched hand.

For a few moments the room was quiet as he read her note.

_Damn it, Cam. Would you just say whatever it is you want to say?”_

A huge smile split his face as glanced down at the note in his hand before he raised his head and stared into her eyes. “It looks like I’m not the only one no good at waiting.” He couldn’t help but tease her.

“Cam.” She turned to see the room had began to bustle with the daily running of the city. “It might be better if we talk in my office.” Without another word Sam walked up the stairs.

The tone of her voice caused him to quickly drop all traces of amusement from his face as he followed her into her office.

As soon as she had shut the door she turned to face him. “I can’t believe General Landry let you come here.”

“Technically he didn’t let me do anything. I told him you needed me here.”

Her mouth fell open. “You didn’t.”

“Well, not exactly. I told him that Atlantis needed me.” 

“And the General believed you?”

Cam shook his head. “Not really. He wanted to contact you first but I stepped through the wormhole before he could.”

“Cam!”

“You’re right. Maybe I should go.” He couldn’t help but laugh at the indignant look on her face. A slow sexy smile began to spread across his face as he stared into her eyes. “We’ll have to think of a good enough excuse later. But right now the only thing that matters to me is you.”

A breathless “Oh.” escaped her.

He closed the few spaces between them, slipped his arms around Sam’s waist and pulled her unresisting body close to his. “Almost since day one there was something about you that appealed to me. Somehow we just seemed to click. You had to have felt it too.” 

It wasn’t a question but Sam nodded her head anyway. “Please, Cam. “ Her breath whispered against his lips as she spoke.

“Can’t you guess?”

Sam slowly shook her head. Figuring out a way to stabilize a wormhole, programming a dialing device, helping to defeat the replicators... all of that was easy, child’s play compared to guessing what was on his mind. “I’m no good at guessing when it comes to you.”

“I love you, Sam.” He watched as a look of amazement spread across her face.

Tears filled her eyes as she wrapped her hands around his neck and pulled him closer. “Finally.” She whispered as his lips met hers.

“Wait.” Cam pulled back slightly. “Aren’t you going to say it?”

Her lips curved into a huge smile as she once more urged his head down to hers. “I love you too, Cam.”

“Finally.” He whispered the same thing she had as his mouth claimed hers.


End file.
